


In Your Eyes

by midnightweeds



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Cheating, Dirty Talk, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Gang Violence, Multi, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-03 13:18:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10968042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightweeds/pseuds/midnightweeds
Summary: ON HOLD.“You’re mine first. Remember that.”Hermione smiled. “How could I forget, Tom?”





	1. Read Between the Lines

**Author's Note:**

> I do plan to continue this. This fic, as well as countless others and original work, got destroyed while I was attempting to back up the flash drive it was on, so I'm struggling with that.   
> I'm working on a few other fics and projects right now, so I'm hoping this will be completed by the end of 2017.  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> This is a 5-shot drabble series that has like...a whole lot going on. Don't say I didn't warn you.
> 
> Also, tags will be updated throughout.

Hermione met Bellatrix on accident.

Sort of.

* * *

She'd been fucking Tom for fun, and Bellatrix had been fucking Tom because she was more-or-less obsessed with him. He'd also sought them both out for whatever ridiculous _thing_ he was planning- so, it was like, fate, really.

Sort of, at least.

They had common interests.

That's how Hermione rationalized stalking Bellatrix after seeing a photo of her in Tom's phone. She'd heard about her a hundred times before at least- in passing complaints and humored retellings of something ridiculous. But, it'd taken seeing her, preserved openmouthed and eager on his screen as he avoided her calls, for her to really _understand_.

And it wasn't really stalking, anyway. She'd spotted her at the perfume counter in Bergdorf's, and barely finish her cup of goût russe tea before faking an internship emergency and ditching her parents, hurrying after the dark-haired woman, curious to see what Tom's other lover did with her free time.

And when she realized that she spent just as much time at the Starbucks on 6th Avenue that she did, well it was only a matter of _time_ , really. Or too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Whatever worked.

* * *

"You're Bella, right?"

Her dark eyes were too beautiful and abyss-like for Hermione to really _take_. She lifted one equally dark brow before saying, "I don't know you."

Hermione half-laughed. She took a step closer, ignoring the way another patron angrily stepped around her as they waited for their drink. She ignored Bellatrix's look of genuine disgust at being approached as well.

"No. Your photo popped up on Tom's phone the other morning and I-" She bit her lip, looking down at the back of her phone and rubbing her thumb across the case.

"Stalked me?"

Hermione looked back at the other woman and laughed. "I intern nearby, actually. I recognized you the moment I saw you, a few days ago, I just," she shrugged, offering a smile she hoped was endearing.

Bellatrix's blank stare was none too assuring. "How do you know him?"

"Physically." Hermione smiled thanks at the barista who passed her drink over the bar.

There were four orders between she and Bellatrix's.

"Sometimes he makes me spaghetti for breakfast, though. So, maybe more intimately that I really care to admit. That isn't really the point, though- my relationship with him, I mean."

"I fuck him, too," she told her, her blank gaze seeming to focus on her without changing at all.

Hermione wasn't sure if it was a threat tactic or if she really was obsessed with Tom, but decided that it didn't matter. Not for what she wanted. "Look at that," she smiled humoredly. "We have more in common than you thought."

Bellatrix didn't laugh. Instead, she looked Hermione over almost boredly, probably deciding that they were polar opposites, if their 8am attire could be the judge of that. "What do you want, girl?"

"Hermione- my name. It's Hermione."

Bellatrix blinked slowly. She drew her fingers though her hair and folded her arms under her breasts. Hermione pointedly followed the action, her eyes easing back up to the other woman's slowly. As their gazes met, she sipped her Iced Green Tea.

"Do you know what photo he has for you when you call, Bella?"

"I can't say that I do, _Hermione_."

Her brows lifted very briefly. She stepped closer to her, lips quirked as she leaned in. "I haven't been able to step thinking of you, because of it."

Bellatrix's eyes were heavily lidded, not at all focused on Hermione, but her lips were pursed attractively. She itched to press her thumb to them to at least see them slack, if not openmouthed. But, Bellatrix did her the favor of parting them, and despite obviously being about to say something rude, Hermione hummed appreciatively.

"Almost," she murmured, brushing past her too closely. "I was nice meeting you, Bellatrix."

* * *

 "Bella mentioned that you're stalking her."

Hermione smiled, glancing up at Tom to see that he was watching her confusedly before returning to scrolling through her phone. "She's lovely."

"I certainly wouldn't use that word to describe her," he commented. "But I've good taste. Obviously," he half teased before very quickly and exasperatedly asking, "what the fuck?"

She clicked her phone off, setting it on his breakfast bar. "I'm not stalking her," she explained, watching as he turned the waffle maker. "She goes to the Starbucks near the MoMA. I saw her in your phone and I just," she shrugged. "She's lovely."

His brows rose as he licked his bottom lip, drawing it into his mouth momentarily.

"What?" Hermione asked curiously.

"She's doing meth again."

" _What_?"

"There is a dealer at that gym. He's a trainer. Your friend's brother."

" _Charlie_?"

He gave her a flat look, silently letting her know that he certainly didn't know _which_ Weasley worked at Equinox. She watched as he dressed the waffle the way she liked it.

"Thanks," she said as he slid the plate across the counter. "There is no way Charlie deals _meth_ , Tom. No way."

"Hermione," he started exasperatedly, waving his hand in dismissal. "It's too bad," he commented lowly.

She looked back up at him to see that he was staring at her breakfast.

"I'd gotten her clean."

"For your little gang."

His lips twitched with the ghost of a smile. "She's been good for a year, at least. It must have been in January."

"When you met me." She watched as he ate a fried tomato, swallowing down a bite of her waffle before saying, "I could help you get her clean again."

"The love of my life is a lesbian," he deadpanned.

She threw a strawberry at him.

"God has such a sense of humor," he murmured, eyes smoothing over her face.

Hermione considered him for a moment. "I didn't know you believed in God."

"Where do you think I go every Sunday? To a matinee?"

She laughed, pressing up on her knees and leaning over the bar for a kiss. "You don't care for sex anyway," she reminded him as he took her face in his hand, his palm against her chin as he kept her close. "It's better for you, isn't it?"

He kissed her again. "I like being close to you."

The honesty in his voice surprised her. When he let her go, she settled back into the bar chair.

"More like you like to keep me close," she teased him. "Which is fine. You cook for me. You keep me amused," she rose her eyebrows suggestively, admiring his slight smile before shrugging. Casually, she added, "Even if it is all priming for whatever you want from me."

"Loyalty."

She set her fork, loaded with waffle and berries, back down as she looked at him. "Loyalty," she repeated, nodding slowly in understanding. As teasingly as she had earlier, she said, "And you'd get to watch, of course."

He laughed, shaking his head as he moved to fix himself another cup of coffee. "Can't we have a serious conversation, Hermione?"

"About what it is you do?"

"I'm a microchemist. You know that."

"You're a microchemist. I study law and psychology. Bellatrix is a meth addict. There is a theme," she admitted offhanded, "but I doubt it has _anything_ to do with why Padma pulled a bullet out of your shoulder last month."

"That was a misunderstanding."

"Uh-huh."

"For now, I think it best if you don't know anything more. Especially if you want to…amuse yourself with Bella."

She finally ate the forkful from earlier. "What does that mean?"

"It means that if we're going to get her clean this summer, she has to separate herself from what we do, anyway. And she'll be trouble enough for you without all of that."

"What do you mean?"

"She doesn't like to get too personal. She's difficult. And selfish, once you're in. It was a constant battle with her, when I started seeing you. This is really just her being a selfish brat."

Hermione frowned, "You think her being addicted to meth is selfish?"

He shrugged, crossing the kitchen back over to her.

"That's tough." She finished her waffle and reached for her cup of tea. "We'll make quite the trio, then."

He frowned.

"Considering you're selfish, too. Oh- oh. You don't want this," she realized. "But, Tom, you care about her. To spend a year keeping her clean? That isn't easy. Not even for you, love."

He nodded slowly, jaw ticking as he stared at her.

"And you love me, don't you?"

He sighed, "Hermione."

"I love you."

His brows rose.

"Which is annoying, because you're a liar. And for all I know you're a fucking murderer or something. But…I do. And I can see that you love her, too."

He ate another tomato before saying, "She was living here, the first few months."

She nodded. "Ok. That's fine. My parents have been complaining about the amount of time I spend out of the house anyway."

He considered her for a moment. "I thought you live alone?"

"In my grandma's old flat. With a housekeeper who _spies_ for them."

He mumbled something that sounded like, "Fucking rich people," but his mouth was now full of a strawberry. After a moment he said, "Your parents will have to complain, then. If you want her clean –and you do, if you want her at least relatively sane-, you'll be here with me. Helping deal with her."

"Was it hard, last time?"

He shrugged. "She responds to power. Authority." He seemed thoughtful for a second, before saying, "Honestly, Hermione, if you'd told me all it'd take was a pair of too dark and too endless eyes-"

Hermione smiled. Of course he'd love her eyes. He probably found forever in them- it was his thing, after all: _forever_.

"Her whole face is beautiful."

Tom smiled, too. "Something we agree on? Lovely."

"It's her mouth, actually."

He hummed, drumming his fingers on the granite.

"Who ever thought there could be on prettier than yours?"

Tom laughed heartily.

Hermione propped her jaw in her hand as she watched him, admiring his face.

At length he said, "She's quite good with it, too."

"Better than you?"

His eyes darkened. "What time do you need to be at work?"

"I have to drop something off at noon. Maybe I'll ask her to lunch."

He set his cup down and rounded the bar, taking her face between his hands before kissing her mouth. His eyes met hers as he said, "You're mine first. Remember that."

Hermione smiled. "How could I forget, Tom?" She tried to kiss him, but he held her face in place. "Remind me, though?"


	2. Hidden Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Bellatrix meet for lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This opens with a text conversation. Hermione is on the right, Bella is on the left.
> 
> Also, there is a straight up, graphic sex scene here so................brace for that, I guess.

Bella?

You’ve got to be fucking kidding

I get off at 1

This better not be Granger

Ffs

Have lunch w me?

You know my last name? :)

You asked about me? :)

Leave me the fuck alone

Please? I’ll make it worth your while

Charlie told me it’s been awhile

What do you want

I just want to see you

Meet me at Soba?

1:15. Don’t be late

* * *

 "She agreed?" Tom questioned, sounding more skeptical than surprised.

"I'm a little nervous, actually," Hermione told him, hurrying across the street. "What if she hates me?"

"Don't be," he murmured, sounding preoccupied. "Wear your hair up. She won't hate you."

"What are you doing?"

"Working, Hermione."

At her extended silence, he sighed.

"I miss you," she told him quickly. She wasn't sure if she meant it, but it felt nice to say.

"What do you miss?" He asked her, voice low and deep. He hummed curiously, and she got the feeling he was kicking his feet up on the edge of his desk as he leaned back in his chair.

She'd watched him do it a too many times before.

Grinning, she said, "I miss your fingers, hooking my mouth open, your palm flat and warm against my cheek as you fuck me from behind and tell me-"

"How much of a filthy fucking cock slut you are?"

Hermione let out a breathy laugh, feeling her insides flutter, skin hot from more than the weather.

"But not just cock anymore," he murmured. The tone of his voice didn't change, but Hermione knew he was still on edge about her pursuing Bellatrix, despite his earlier blessing.

"Tom," she drew her hands through her hair, twisting it into a bun.

"I never thought you'd have any hidden desires. Not with everything that we've shared. You could have told me, love."

"I never doubted what we had- _have_. So, don't doubt what I feel for you, Mr. Riddle," she smiled as she heard his soft chuckle. "A thousand Bella's wouldn't mean a thing without you."

He laughed, a slight groan escaping him. "Come over tonight. When you're done with her."

The request didn't fit with the rest of her plans. "I just got to _Soba_. I'll text you."

* * *

 "How _do_ you know Tom, anyway?"

Bellatrix twisted her hair into a bun, her lifted arms causing her t-shirt to slide up her hips and reveal perfectly tanned skin. She looked at Hermione in false curiosity- the way you looked at someone who was offering you something you loved for free-, but with her dark eyes focused, Hermione understood how Tom had gotten caught up with her.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "Half romantically, but mostly intellectually." She leaned on the door, pressing the lock closed as an afterthought. "His relationship wouldn't have anything to do with ours."

Bellatrix leaned over the sink, inhaling a line of cocaine off Hermione's iPad Pro. Hermione stepped closer to her, fingers trailing over the expanse of bared skin, index finger smoothing over the dip of her spine as their eyes met in the mirror.

"Unless you want it to."

Bellatrix dropped a permanently rolled $100 bill on the iPad, turning toward Hermione as she leaned on the counter. Hermione stepped closer yet, one hand settling on her hip as the other took hold of her jaw.

"This is how it started with him, too."

Her brows rose.

"He thought he could control me."

Hermione observed the other woman, taking in her open mouth and endless eyes. Despite being black, they seemed even larger blown wide, and it made her hungry in a way she hadn't expected. "I don't want that. I don't want to control you."

Bellatrix settled her hands on Hermione's hips, pulling them flush together. Her fingertips slipped very briefly under Hermione's blouse before she gripped the edge of sink instead. "You're the first."

Hermione smiled softly. "And, anyway: you've more power over Tom than he has over you, that's for sure."

Bellatrix chuckled, her eyes on Hermione's mouth. "No," she said. "You don't know him like I do. It's just what he wants you to think. It's how he gets you."

Hermione hummed in response.

"You all are a lot alike."

"You know that from half of a lunch?"

She didn't reply, and Hermione took the opportunity to lean in, ghosting her lips over hers. When Bellatrix didn't resist, she deepened the kiss, moaning when Bellatrix brought her hands her throat.

She squeezed lightly, one hand disappearing from Hermione's neck and trailing down her arm. When Hermione rolled her hips, Bellatrix drew an arm around her waist, ensuring no space between them.

Hermione slid her hand up the other woman's body until she found her breast, palming it surely. As she broke away from her mouth, kissing down her throat, Bellatrix said, "I don't like women, Hermione."

Hermione pulled away instantly, leaning against the wall behind her.

She watched Bellatrix do another line, hating herself for not _asking_. Hating Tom for allowing her to _believe_. She ran a hand over her hair, tugging it from its bun, disturbed at herself for getting Bellatrix –an _addict_ \- high for purely selfish reasons. To take advantage-

"You shouldn't let that stop you from trying, Hermione. I like to be entertained." She offered her a smile in the mirror. "But, I also like the way you smell, and how soft you are against me. I'd certainly love to choke you out while you fuck me, so," she shrugged.

"You're high, Bella."

"It's a few fucking lines. I'm cool, okay? It doesn't work that fast. I'm going to do another, and call an Uber while you leave cash on the table. And when we get to my house, I'll do the speed you offered, and then you're going to fuck me. You're not going to be weird about it, okay?"

"Okay," she softly agreed. Her hands felt hot. "I'll pay now. Meet you outside."

"Good." Bellatrix nodded, leaning over the sink again. "Hey."

"Yeah?" Hermione unlocked the door. She turned when Bellatrix didn't reply, feeling arms around her waist and lips against her collar. "Bella-"

"You get what you want, and I get what I want," she pressed a line of kisses up Hermione's throat. "It's a fair trade," she continued, sucking a bit of her skin into her mouth with a soft moan.

Hermione's eyes fell closed at the feel of Bellatrix's tongue against her skin, hands settling on her hips for the briefest of moments. "It is," she agreed as she pushed her away. "I'll be waiting, okay?"

"And tie your hair back up, babe."

* * *

 "Please," Bellatrix breathed. "Please, please," she cried at the feel of Hermione's fingers inside of her, hips circling as she rubbed her clit over her thumb.

She drew an arm around Hermione's neck, gripping her shoulder as she ghosted her fingers over the swell of her throat. "Talk to me," she encouraged.

Hermione licked her lips, head hitting the high back of the couch as she looked up at Bellatrix. As Hermione pressed her lips to her bare chest, she asked "What do you want me to say, Bella?" A hum punctuated her question, her arm circling Bellatrix's waist to hold her still. She gave another cry as Hermione pulled her thumb away, pressing it against the crease of her thigh as she pumped her fingers. "Should I tell you about how warm and wet you are around my fingers? About how I'd love to fuck you from behind, my hands around your throat as I force you to look at me. A _woman_ ," Hermione grinned as Bellatrix whimpered, fingers flexing around her throat. "And force you to tell me how much you love my big, fat dick in your ass."

" _Fuck_ , Hermione." She gasped, one hand moving to play with her nipples as Hermione continued to finger her.

"Or maybe how I'd love to bury my face between your thighs and breathe you in as I lick you into a crying, shaking mess?"

She shifted them, forcing Bellatrix to lay down against the couch with her bum resting on Hermione's knees, legs around her hips. Hermione ghosted her fingers over her stomach as Bellatrix's legs tightened around her, pulling her closer. She reached for her, eyes half lidded and mouth open as she gripped at Hermione's forearms.

" _God_ ," she breathed. "Yes, Hermione. More." Her nails pressed into the soft skin of Hermione's inner arm roughly.

"You feel so good around my fingers," Hermione leaned over her, kissing her briefly, and grinning when she began to rock her hips in need of more. Dragging her lips down her jaw and throat, she sucked the soft skin beneath Bellatrix's collarbone into her mouth as she brought her thumb back to her clit. "So soft and sweet. I wonder," she pulled her eyes away from Bellatrix, sitting back enough to watch her fingers slip from her core.

Bellatrix gave a small cry, hips attempting to follow. Their eyes met as Hermione leaned over her again, kissing her firmly. She brought her fingers to her mouth, smiling when she instantly opened.

"Tongue out," Hermione breathed.

Bellatrix laughed, but did as requested, moaning when Hermione rubbed her fingers up her tongue before kissing her again. As she pulled her fingers away, she drew them down Bellatrix's body, circling her clit before pushing them back into her, pumping slowly.

"Delicious," she breathed, eyes still on Bellatrix's, mouth hovering over hers. "Tom told me you would be."

Bellatrix made an impatient, needy sound, wrapping her arms around Hermione and kissing her hungrily. Hermione felt her stomach rolling, body responding despite herself. She pressed her thumb to Bellatrix's clit, rubbing it firmly as her fingers massaged her.

"Tom told me you were dream," Bellatrix breathed, kissing the corner of her mouth before she pulled away. "Like heaven," she continued, hands moving down Hermione's body and slipping under her shirt. " _Fuck_ , Hermione."

"Cum for me, Bella," Hermione said softly, sucking the swell of her breast into her mouth. "Let me feel you come undone around my fingers."

"Is this what you had in mind when you stopped me in Starbucks?" Her fingers pressed under Hermione's bra, brushing along the curve of ribs. "Promising me meth and begging me to cum?"

Hermione grinned at her, teeth combing gently over her nipple. "I think you've the wrong idea," she told her, pulling her thumb away from her.

Bellatrix groaned, trembling. "Hermione."

"I'm in control, here."

"That isn't what you said earlier."

She laughed, kissing her mouth as her fingers fell still.

"Hermione," Bellatrix breathed. "Don't."

"What do you want, Bella?" She asked quietly. "You want me to make you cum? I thought you didn't like-"

Her arms tightened around Hermione before she could pull away. "Please."

"You want my fingers to bring you?" She ghosted them around her lower lips, firmly rubbing them back and forth around her clit. "Tell me what you need, Bellatrix."

"I want to cum, Granger," she kissed Hermione's throat as she loosened her arms, eyes following her as she sat up.

"But what do you need, love?"

Her eyes seemed positively mad, desire laden gaze heavy and dizzying. "I need to feel your fingers pumping me- your mouth, _fuck_ I want to feel your mouth.

Hermione leaned down and kissed her stomach, tongue drawing along her skin. "You want my mouth here?"

She took hold of her bun, attempting to push Hermione where she wanted her. "Don't fuck around."

Hermione circled her fingers along her upper walls, using her other hand to draw along Bellatrix's thighs. She trembled under her touch.

"Please, I'm so close, I just-"

Hermione leaned back over her, kissing her fiercely as she drew her nails up her stomach. "You just what, Bella? You need my help?" She brushed her clit with her thumb nail, a laugh escaping her when Bellatrix began to shake beneath her, walls convulsing around her fingers unexpectedly. She hummed approvingly as Bellatrix once again dug her nails into her arms, fingers still pumping in and out of her as she moaned in pleasure. "Good girl, Bells."

"That wasn't fair," she said between breathes.

Hermione offered her a small smile, watching as Bellatrix drew an arm over her eyes. She pulled her fingers from within her, settling them against her clit and lightly rubbing her. "It wasn't, was it?" She asked, enjoying the way she continued to tremble at the attention.

Leaning in to kiss one of her breasts, Hermione waited until Bellatrix was looking at her before asking, "You want another?"

Her eyes shined, hazy and unfocused. "I want what you promised me first."

* * *

 Tom was wide awake when Hermione got to his flat, but he was no less surprised to see her. The smirk that formed on his face was reason enough not to tell him what she'd gotten up to, but she couldn't risk Bellatrix outing her.

"You didn't text," he murmured, lips brushing her brow. "I thought you weren't coming."

She handed him her phone as she stepped around him, waiting in the living room for him. His office door was open, the quiet hum of his devices filling the strange silence. They were only a few stories up, but the city seemed to have fallen still at her arrival.

"Not for me, anyway," he continued.

As he laid both of their phones on the window sill, she considered that the city had seemed still around her for a lot longer and sat down on an arm chair. He sat down on the couch on the other side of the coffee table and said, "Did things not go as planned?"

"You could have told me," she met his eye, relaxing into the chair, gaze heavily lidded. At his frown she said, "That Bellatrix Black is not bisexual, Tom. You could have told me."

"She isn't," he admitted. "I hadn't thought she'd tell you that." He stretched his arm over the back of the couch, the sleeve of his shirt sliding up his bicep. "She seemed quite fascinated with you. A few photos went missing from my office-"

"Oh- your office. She's allowed in your office?"

"Hermione. You're allowed in my office-"

"Yeah- and I know for a fact you don't have any photos of me in there," she gestured behind him.

"I'm talking about at the _lab_ , Hermione. Of course she's been there. Her father _owns_ it."

She waved him off. "It's charming. Do you all do drugs together, in your secret office?"

"Why the hell would you ask that?"

She looked pointedly at the markings of a rubber band on his arm.

He sighed. "It's not what you think."

"We did coke in the bathroom at Soba," she told him, watching as his head fell back on the couch.

" _You_ snorted coke, Hermione?" He questioned disbelievingly.

She ignored the question. "That's when I realized I was taking advantage of her."

"Oh. Was it?" His head fell to the side, allowing their eyes to meet.

"Is it heroin or crack? Or are you doing meth, too?"

"First of all, she snorts it-"

"Don't I fucking know it, Tom."

He sat up, elbows on his knees as he leaned toward her. "You _fed_ her addiction, Hermione? What the _fuck_?"

"Don't avoid the question, Tom. What the fuck are _you_ doing?"

He sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "You can't feed her addiction, Hermione. It isn't…you're better than that."

As he stood up, he offered her his hand. Hesitantly, she took it, and he brushed a kiss to her knuckles before leading her toward his office.

"I was just about to draw some blood," he explained, flicking on another row of lights.

He had a second door open, leading from the small space that held his desk and research into a home lab. She glanced in, looking over his shoulder to see him sitting at his desk, watching her carefully.

"Is this legal?"

He shrugged. "It's my condo. No one is coming through here."

"What were you drawing blood for?" She asked, her voice surer than she felt. She wasn't sure why she'd even asked; it was almost comical how little she understood about science, having taken the bare minimum in order to pursue literally any other field in attempt to distance herself from her family.

"It's better if you don't know."

She pursed her lips, leaning against the wall just outside of his lab. "You expect me to believe that this has something to do with your secret little business? That Bellatrix is somehow involved in this?" She gestured behind her.

"As I mentioned, her father owns the lab I work for. But, no, she's not involved with this aspect of things. She's involved in…procurement. There is only one other person that knows about this."

"Ok. And you're testing on yourself?"

"It isn't as though this could harm me, Hermione."

" _This_ couldn't harm you," she repeated. "Meaning the other things that you do very well could."

He laughed, head falling back between his shoulders. Hermione crossed the room, brushing her fingers over the swell of his throat, smiling when his hum of pleasure vibrated against her fingertips. His hands found her waist, and he pulled her to stand between his legs, fingers smoothing down hip and up the back of her thigh as he slipped beneath her skirt.

"You're smarter than that." She told him, fingers combing through the hair at his nape as he sat up and pressed his face into her stomach. "You've been distracted lately."

"I don't like the idea of you hanging out with Bellatrix," he told her, arm tightening around her waist. His fingers continued to ghost over the back of her thigh. "She isn't a good influence, and you obviously aren't thinking clearly when it comes to her.

She couldn't fault him there. She could hardly believe her actions were her own. Still, she teased, "You want me all to yourself, Mr. Riddle?"

"Yes," he told her, ending her playful tone. "I do. I want you separate from all of that."

"But, it's your life," she reminded him.

He sighed. "I know, Hermione. That's what makes it difficult. And now…now that she knows you," he kissed her stomach, mouth hot even through her shirt. "They'll all want to."

She considered asking him what he was really upset about. Why he was suddenly so tender beneath her hand, but thought better of it. Bellatrix had reminded her that he was good at getting people to believe what he wanted them to.

"You're the boss," she reminded him. "Be the boss."

He grinned, looking up at her. "Are you going to tell me what you all did?"

"Mmm," she drew her hands through the front of his hair, pulling his curls away from his forehead. He eyes fell closed, and she brushed her thumb back and forth up and down the bridge of his nose. "Nothing I feel good about," she told him. "You'll…if you want her clean, you'll have to do it yourself. I can't have anything to do with her."

His eyes opened, curious for the briefest of moments. And then he stood up, hands dragging up her body as he moved to hold her jaw. His face was guarded then, steely and cool as his gaze fell to her lips.

She drew her arms around his waist, pressing her body flush against his. "I want to be involved with whatever you're doing, though."

"I could be killing people and chopping them up, Hermione."

She laughed. "Well that's no good, love. You should be selling their organs."

His brows rose.

"Testing them here," she shrugged, half laughing. "Look at that," she grinned as he kissed her forehead. "I'm already proving quite useful."

"Yeah," he murmured, resting his chin on her head.

Hermione wondered if he’d built the intrigue so subtly in the hope that she’d figure it out herself. Or that she’d beg him. She hadn’t considered Bellatrix’s suggestion before, but it made incredible sense now. Of course he was a liar. Of course he was manipulative and sneaky and underhanded. She wouldn’t have liked him without all his deceitful layers.

But, she was sure he loved her. And she was sure she usually liked him enough.

She drew her arms under his, rubbing his back as she pressed her face into the curve of his shoulder.

“Look at that,” he said thoughtfully, and she wondered what he’d been thinking in their silence.

Wondered, but didn’t press. She had a feeling it would all come out soon enough.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading<3
> 
> If you enjoy my writing, it'd mean a lot to me if you followed my new tumblr _honeyweeds_ , it's dedicated to fics and I'd really love to take requests. Drop a line and let me know you're a fan of _In Your Eyes_ ; I'll be following blogs back! Link is on profile.


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